Naked Portrait

‘Hypnotic and propulsive’ - The Sunday Times‘Thrilling’ - The TLS‘Compulsive’ - The ObserverNothing had been discussed, I just assumed I would be naked. I got undressed and asked him what he would like me to do. He said it was up to me.

In Naked Portrait Rose Boyt explores her complicated relationship with her beloved father, Lucian Freud, drawing on a diary she kept while sitting for him and which she found five years after his death. Enthralled by his genius, she remembered as uncontentious and amusing all the extraordinary stories he told her to keep her entertained in the studio, but the shock of the truth is profound when she looks back. What emerges is her compassion and love not just for herself as a vulnerable young woman but for the man himself, in all his brilliant complexity.

‘Packed to the rafters with wisdom and insight, this immersive account of being the child of a genius is, itself, a work of art’ - Frances Wilson, The Telegraph ‘Books of the Year’‘Beyond the father–daughter dynamic is an evocative tale of coming of age in London in the 1980s, one marked by grief, bad boyfriends, sexual compromises and camaraderie. So much life worth telling, out beyond the shadows of great men’ - Hettie Judah, The Times Literary Supplement‘The unexpected miracle of the book is its emotional complexity’ - Claire Dederer, The Guardian